After years of lurking in the shadows, the supernatural MMO has poked its head out for a quick check-in.

The World of Darkness urban fantasy setting is ripe for an MMO, and EVE developers CCP are working on making that happen. Unfortunately, since the project was first announced six years ago, we haven't heard much about the game's progress. Although that kind of radio silence is appropriate for a setting full of supernatural puppet masters waging war right under our collective noses, it doesn't bode well for a budding MMO. Not to worry, though: CCP broke the masquerade at EVE Fanfest 2013 to give patient fans a look at how things are going with WoD's development. It looks the game will see the light of day after all - in a manner of speaking.

The development team at CCP has seen some reshuffling since World of Darkness was first announced, but currently there are 70 people on the crew. The presentation was more technical than it was flashy; the developers simply opened up and talked about where they were in the development process. It was a surprisingly transparent approach in this age of hype-mongering, with a good portion of time being spent demonstrating some cool pieces of technology like the game's procedural city generation.

Not much was said about gameplay outside the context of development checklists. The team has recently been experimenting with vampire powers and social options. Objectives for 2013 development include PvE environments, clothing systems, and out-of-game social options. Some sort of crafting system might be in the works, but in a more indirect manner than you may be used to. "You're a powerful, immortal lord of the night," the presenter joked. "You don't want to stitch a shirt."

A bit of in-engine footage was shown, but no actual gameplay. The videos that were presented are being kept under wraps, as CCP doesn't want to give the impression that the game is any closer to release than it really is. That's a pretty strong indication that you won't be stepping into the World of Darkness any time soon, but it's coming along, slowly but surely.

So, a vampire MMO? Should be interesting, though they better have good incentives if this is subscription based.

I'm disappointed they're calling it World of Darkness when they're only bringing in Vamps. In the original TTRPG the canon was respectively Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Changeling: The Dreaming, Wraith: Oblivion and Hunter: The Reckoning. Also there were Demons, Mummies, and Asian Vampires which were completely different.I also would like to point out that White-Wolf rebooted the entire WoD plot and ruined (IMO) the RPG and I hope that this is not based off the reboot but rather the original series of which Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines was based off of. V:TM Bloodlines is considered one of the better PC RPGs and if you haven't tried it I do recommend it as it holds up very well along with fan updates and mods.I hope at the very least they decide to expand the game to include the other "races" so to speak as the range of supernatural in the World Of Darkness made the game much more fun to play.

So, a vampire MMO? Should be interesting, though they better have good incentives if this is subscription based.

I'm disappointed they're calling it World of Darkness when they're only bringing in Vamps. In the original TTRPG the canon was respectively Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Changeling: The Dreaming, Wraith: Oblivion and Hunter: The Reckoning. Also there were Demons, Mummies, and Asian Vampires which were completely different.I also would like to point out that White-Wolf rebooted the entire WoD plot and ruined (IMO) the RPG and I hope that this is not based off the reboot but rather the original series of which Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines was based off of. V:TM Bloodlines is considered one of the better PC RPGs and if you haven't tried it I do recommend it as it holds up very well along with fan updates and mods.I hope at the very least they decide to expand the game to include the other "races" so to speak as the range of supernatural in the World Of Darkness made the game much more fun to play.

To its advantage, the NWoD is actually crossover compatible, which opens up the game to other splats later on. I doubt they would call it World of Darkness and only have vampires, might as well call it V:tR or V:tM at that point.Starting with Vampire makes sense since that's the splat with the most content (ei: books), (arguably) the largest fan-base and was the first splat to be printed when NWoD was first released.

Besides, the old metaplot is done, dead and gone for what, ten years? New system, new stories, I don't see a problem with that. The die system is also far better and less prone buggy bullsh*t (such as higher pools having a greater chance of failure).

They did confirm that this was going to be based on the older White Wolf vampire series, the masquerade. I too would love to see them expand it further beyond vampires as well. I would be surprised if that isn't the plan. If they can put Eve online in the same world as Dust 514, this should be easy.

So, a vampire MMO? Should be interesting, though they better have good incentives if this is subscription based.

I'm disappointed they're calling it World of Darkness when they're only bringing in Vamps. In the original TTRPG the canon was respectively Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Changeling: The Dreaming, Wraith: Oblivion and Hunter: The Reckoning. Also there were Demons, Mummies, and Asian Vampires which were completely different.

I hope at the very least they decide to expand the game to include the other "races" so to speak as the range of supernatural in the World Of Darkness made the game much more fun to play.

They have already said they plan to expand the game to include everything that is in the WOD (with in reason) but they are focusing on Vampires first. This allows them to focus on the games mechanics and how it plays and make each experience really unique rather than try and incorporate everything at once. You could do that if you were making a WoW clone I guess but that definitely isn't something CCP is doing.

The thing to remember about CCP is they are willing to take risks and they don't typically give in to failure. I started playing eve shortly after it came out, the game we play today 10 years later its so far beyond and so unrecognizable it is insane. If you look you can see the roots of where it started but it isn't so easy.

CCP isn't willing to take risks, and try something new there is nothing like Eve online and regardless of how bad, or buggy or down right incomprehensible the WOD game is launch I'm willing to give it a go. If there is one thing I've learned over the years is don't call anything CCP does a failure until they do. The one thing they are willing to do is experiment with their games until they get it right.

Yeah... I REALLY hope that this just doesn't end up being Secret World in a new setting. I never felt like I was a hero that was actually affecting much of anything in Secret World, and I hope that WOD is more involving than that. Say what you will about The Old Republic, but at least there was an actual sense of progression even though players were still running around doing quests I finished days ago.

Boy. Lots of CCP news today. Aren't they about to launch an expansion for EVE as well?

I mentioned in another thread that one of the reasons why EVE has such an intricate character creator is because they were experimenting with game mechanics, intended for WoD in the EVE game.

In many ways, the whole "Walking on station" feature, that CCP has been struggling to implement into their flagship game, will include elements from the engine that will be used to make their new MMO.

There was also a genuine interest in creating authentically socializing NPCs that would fill up bars and corridors of said space stations, using a procedural generating seeder, these station would be populated by these NPCs, who would then start realistically interact with each other, randomly walk up to bars to order drink and respond if you get to close to their personal space. Also, if you were to walk up to a group of NPCs that are chatting with each other, they would stop to look at you with a "Do you mind?" kind of attitude. The whole point of this is to create the illusion of non-empty stations, when you happen to go into areas where there happen to be few players around.

These were based on tech demos that I saw couple of years ago, and I don't think there's been any progress with them, but it would be pretty cool if they get to implement these into both the space stations of EVE and WoD cities.

Product Placement:Boy. Lots of CCP news today. Aren't they about to launch an expansion for EVE as well?

The annual Fanfest is going on right now, and they are having all the panels and showing off what they've been working on. That is why there is so much eve news today.

Devin Barker:hope they do more than just vamps... they are my least favorite race in WoD

They are starting with Vampires, (and humans obviously) they want to get the games core elements nailed down before they try to incorporate vastly different races/classes of the entire WoD setting. I don't imagine we will see a beta of the game until 2015 maybe even 2016.

synobal:The annual Fanfest is going on right now, and they are having all the panels and showing off what they've been working on.

Yes, I'm aware of the fanfest. I'm just commenting on how it feels like they're revealing an uncharacteristically large amount of stuff during this fanfest. I'm still expecting them to release the launch trailer for their new exploration expansion for Eve.

synobal:The annual Fanfest is going on right now, and they are having all the panels and showing off what they've been working on.

Yes, I'm aware of the fanfest. I'm just commenting on how it feels like they're revealing an uncharacteristically large amount of stuff during this fanfest. I'm still expecting them to release the launch trailer for their new exploration expansion for Eve.

Word on the street, by which I mean twitter is that the trailer should be released tomorrow. I think the amount of news is due to just how well they've integrated social media and services like Twitch.tv this year.

EDIT: oh and CCP has adopted a new policy lately to encourage their developers to work on projects outside of their own assigned projects. So now we are ending up with stuff like Evr, and Eve offline gameplay and such. Which might explain why we are seeing more new stuff this year.

I also would like to point out that White-Wolf rebooted the entire WoD plot and ruined (IMO) the RPG and I hope that this is not based off the reboot but rather the original series of which Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines was based off of.

I seriously doubt they're going to use the old mythos for the game. Which, admittedly is a shame, but this is a White Wolf product. They're not happy if the fans are.

As a fan of the World of Darkness RPG(New World for those curious) I have been looking forward to this since I heard about it.My only fear is that it will be too similar to EVE.Granted from a Roleplay stand point it will make complete sense if players do like they do in EVE.So its a little bit of a shift to both sides for me really.

And to those who asked,yes,it has been stated that the MMO will be based off the Old World but will use similar mechanics to the New World.

Either way I'm excited.How excited?Well,I posted in this thread didn't I? :p

amaranth_dru:I'm disappointed they're calling it World of Darkness when they're only bringing in Vamps. In the original TTRPG the canon was respectively Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Changeling: The Dreaming, Wraith: Oblivion and Hunter: The Reckoning. Also there were Demons, Mummies, and Asian Vampires which were completely different.

I would say it's a marketing thing, but I honestly don't know if more people are familiar with the World of Darkness label or the V:TM label. It could be that they're hoping to avoid turning off people who are jaded and otherwise exhausted with the over-saturation of vampires in the media. If it prevents just one person from wanting to join up and RP their Twilight fanfic, I'll be happy.

amaranth_dru:I also would like to point out that White-Wolf rebooted the entire WoD plot and ruined (IMO) the RPG and I hope that this is not based off the reboot but rather the original series of which Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines was based off of.

It's been said in an interview that it's based on V:TM but they will take inspiration from V:TR if need be. I kinda thought that was industry-speak to appease fans of V:TR who'd rather have a nWoD MMO, but time will tell.

amaranth_dru:V:TM Bloodlines is considered one of the better PC RPGs and if you haven't tried it I do recommend it as it holds up very well along with fan updates and mods.

I'll second the recommendation for V:TM Bloodlines, I still periodically replay it and it's still fun. Suffers from a wonky final chapter, but it's otherwise one of my favorite games of all-time.

amaranth_dru:I hope at the very least they decide to expand the game to include the other "races" so to speak as the range of supernatural in the World Of Darkness made the game much more fun to play.

I actually really hope they don't; none of the other games had quite the political focus that V:TM lends itself to and I want lots of PVP political maneuvering. I did read that there will be humans, which would be kinda cool to see ghouls and sire others. Though I should warn that everything I'm posting is based on old developer interviews.

amaranth_dru:I'm disappointed they're calling it World of Darkness when they're only bringing in Vamps.

Your character starts off as a mortal and joins the Kindred when they get Embraced. The focus is on vamps first because would you want to launch an MMO that includes everybody? I know I wouldn't - I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get all supernaturals as playable characters at launch with any amount of depth. Also, vamps are first, because they are the most popular gameline. Starting as a mortal does mean that other supernaturals would be possible and easy to plug in, not to mention you can just play a mortal anyway.

amaranth_dru:I also would like to point out that White-Wolf rebooted the entire WoD plot and ruined (IMO) the RPG and I hope that this is not based off the reboot but rather the original series of which Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines was based off of.

It's absolutely no secret that it's set in the oWoD. It's been known for at least the past 2-3 years or so.

The good thing about CCP is that they really do slow-burn improve their games like no other developer. I really think, out of all MMOs, EVE has had the most added to it, because CCP don't spend their time manufacturing content, they spend their time manufacturing ways for the player to create content.

So this game taking so long isn't nearly as bad a sign as it would be with other games.

As much as I would love to play any game set in the WoD, I will not deal with CCP again. A company that let's hackers get away with stealing customers' (ie. me) money and in-game items and not only does nothing about it, but actually let's the hacker get away with it in lieu of the loyal, paying customer of many years, is not a company I shall ever help finance. I hope they go bankrupt quite frankly.

KingsGambit:As much as I would love to play any game set in the WoD, I will not deal with CCP again. A company that let's hackers get away with stealing customers' (ie. me) money and in-game items and not only does nothing about it, but actually let's the hacker get away with it in lieu of the loyal, paying customer of many years, is not a company I shall ever help finance. I hope they go bankrupt quite frankly.

I wish any company other than CCP had gotten the WoD IP.

Isn't hacking (outside of the ingame Eve skill) still against their rules? As I understand it, ingame scams and such are allowed, but hacking accounts is not.

KingsGambit:As much as I would love to play any game set in the WoD, I will not deal with CCP again. A company that let's hackers get away with stealing customers' (ie. me) money and in-game items and not only does nothing about it, but actually let's the hacker get away with it in lieu of the loyal, paying customer of many years, is not a company I shall ever help finance. I hope they go bankrupt quite frankly.

I wish any company other than CCP had gotten the WoD IP.

Isn't hacking (outside of the ingame Eve skill) still against their rules? As I understand it, ingame scams and such are allowed, but hacking accounts is not.

You are spot on. I was the victim of both. The former was a result of the latter. Someone gained unauthorised access to my account, cleared me out (about 100bill ISK of T2 BPOs, 100mill+ SP charaters, faction battleships, etc) and despite that have records of every trade and transaction, they wouldn't do a thing about it. Was a customer since 03-04 just after Beta. Will never deal with again.

As always, CCP takes A LOT of time, develops slow and buggy engines, and takes ages to fix game mechanics, but the gameplay ends up being awesome because they have the right idea how to do it.

Its also funny how people complain about hackers that they are themselfs at fault for letting others acess account. Eve servers were not hacked. they give you all security measures you need. yet you still allow others to enter your account, and then cry that they are not going to protect you from your own stupidity?

Hey, me too! :D The entire reason I took notice (OK, as much notice) of the WoD MMO is because initially only the title was known and I wasn't sure if they'd go with mages and other critters or not. I wanted to see how they'd do Mage in a video game. When it became known it's VtM I was disappointed but with the promise of future expansions, I still have some hope. Still, my guess would be that Hunter and Werewolf would come before Mage, if that ever is incorporated.

If'n you're gaming in the World of Darkness, you're not a hero. Not by even the weakest definition of the word.

.... welllllll.... maybe if'n you're playing a Malkavian, you might BELIEVE you're some kind of hero, but the lunatics aren't exactly known for their grip on reality. The closest thing you'll find to a "hero" is a Hunter, and even the best of them makes The Punisher look like a goody little two-shoes.

If'n you're gaming in the World of Darkness, you're not a hero. Not by even the weakest definition of the word.

.... welllllll.... maybe if'n you're playing a Malkavian, you might BELIEVE you're some kind of hero, but the lunatics aren't exactly known for their grip on reality. The closest thing you'll find to a "hero" is a Hunter, and even the best of them makes The Punisher look like a goody little two-shoes.

Maybe I should rephrase that. What I meant by hero is that I didn't feel like there was anything even marginally important about my character playing Secret World, I never felt like my actions ever made even the slightest difference in anything, even for an MMO. I just hope that the WoD MMO does a better job of creating the illusion that what the player does actually accomplishes something.

If'n you're gaming in the World of Darkness, you're not a hero. Not by even the weakest definition of the word.

.... welllllll.... maybe if'n you're playing a Malkavian, you might BELIEVE you're some kind of hero, but the lunatics aren't exactly known for their grip on reality. The closest thing you'll find to a "hero" is a Hunter, and even the best of them makes The Punisher look like a goody little two-shoes.

Maybe I should rephrase that. What I meant by hero is that I didn't feel like there was anything even marginally important about my character playing Secret World, I never felt like my actions ever made even the slightest difference in anything, even for an MMO. I just hope that the WoD MMO does a better job of creating the illusion that what the player does actually accomplishes something.

From information we have so far, I'd say it would do it. It's going to be community driven, so players pretty much would be the world. Heck, players will be Princes and Primogen in the cities, too. It would be like playing an MMO LARP.

If'n you're gaming in the World of Darkness, you're not a hero. Not by even the weakest definition of the word.

.... welllllll.... maybe if'n you're playing a Malkavian, you might BELIEVE you're some kind of hero, but the lunatics aren't exactly known for their grip on reality. The closest thing you'll find to a "hero" is a Hunter, and even the best of them makes The Punisher look like a goody little two-shoes.

Maybe I should rephrase that. What I meant by hero is that I didn't feel like there was anything even marginally important about my character playing Secret World, I never felt like my actions ever made even the slightest difference in anything, even for an MMO. I just hope that the WoD MMO does a better job of creating the illusion that what the player does actually accomplishes something.

From information we have so far, I'd say it would do it. It's going to be community driven, so players pretty much would be the world. Heck, players will be Princes and Primogen in the cities, too. It would be like playing an MMO LARP.

Ok... I can just imagine how that would work, knowing how many people that love to be dicks out there...

Maybe I should rephrase that. What I meant by hero is that I didn't feel like there was anything even marginally important about my character playing Secret World, I never felt like my actions ever made even the slightest difference in anything, even for an MMO. I just hope that the WoD MMO does a better job of creating the illusion that what the player does actually accomplishes something.

From information we have so far, I'd say it would do it. It's going to be community driven, so players pretty much would be the world. Heck, players will be Princes and Primogen in the cities, too. It would be like playing an MMO LARP.

Ok... I can just imagine how that would work, knowing how many people that love to be dicks out there...

RUN FOR YOUR F*&*ING LIVES!!!

Well...to be fair, that's the Kindred society overall anyway, isn't it? Just a bunch of dicks trying to dick over each other. I think they call it "politics". Or "Camarilla". Still, relevant - Spoony talks about his experience in a LARP. Oh, it's long, and it's also bad, however, it's worth it. For example - think about it, in the MMO, you wouldn't really have GMs, or at least they'd be a lot more impartial. I'd say, they would have left Spoony do what he did, which would have been awesome.

Definitely looking forward to this. I love the oWoD games, and even though I never played Vampire specifically (Werewolf/Mage player), I would like to. I'm also kind of curious how they're going to adapt a seriously roleplay-driven setting into video game form, but since Bloodlines did it pretty well, I expect they can do it.

Now, though, I'm kind of wondering what the set timing is like. Most vampires are active only at night, but if they ever do other supernaturals...man, those poor Mesektet.

amaranth_dru:I hope at the very least they decide to expand the game to include the other "races" so to speak as the range of supernatural in the World Of Darkness made the game much more fun to play.

Speaking as a Werewolf player, I sort of agree, though I totally get why they're focusing on one for now.

Also, I'm not even sure I'd want them to even try adapting Mage. The system for the tabletop game is individualistic and insanely expansive, even if the ST actually tries to get players to roleplay their paradigms.

"I want to use Forces 4 and Prime 2 to nuke that building." "How? You're an Ecstatic." "...explosive orgasm?"

Also, now I suddenly want to see someone turn Changeling into a MMO, possbly using something like Pyrovision from Team Fortress 2.

JamesBr:Besides, the old metaplot is done, dead and gone for what, ten years? New system, new stories, I don't see a problem with that. The die system is also far better and less prone buggy bullsh*t (such as higher pools having a greater chance of failure).

They started releasing stuff for the old series again in 2011, oddly enough. I think a new Werewolf: The Apocalypse corebook is coming out this year.

From information we have so far, I'd say it would do it. It's going to be community driven, so players pretty much would be the world. Heck, players will be Princes and Primogen in the cities, too. It would be like playing an MMO LARP.

Ok... I can just imagine how that would work, knowing how many people that love to be dicks out there...

RUN FOR YOUR F*&*ING LIVES!!!

Well...to be fair, that's the Kindred society overall anyway, isn't it? Just a bunch of dicks trying to dick over each other. I think they call it "politics". Or "Camarilla". Still, relevant - Spoony talks about his experience in a LARP. Oh, it's long, and it's also bad, however, it's worth it. For example - think about it, in the MMO, you wouldn't really have GMs, or at least they'd be a lot more impartial. I'd say, they would have left Spoony do what he did, which would have been awesome.

No way, not even Kindred society is as evil as the typical MMO player. I suppose they'll have to find ways that players can limit the power of players that get to be Princes or whatever if they decide to abuse it, though that carries it own set of problems.